The Friendly
by Flutter-Pony
Summary: A little idea that might be continued.
1. Chapter 1

The air was hot and heavy as she stretched into consciousness, already anticipation simmered in her stomach. She grinned a little just to herself.

Summer had fallen on them slowly at first; they were busy cleaning up the messes of winter. Her hasty marriage and matching divorce, his pathetic, unprofessional and sometimes lunatic attempts to get her attention.

Today though Emma knew it was here. This day had been painted in her mind since that February day she told him Carl was leaving and Will had put his hand on her shoulder.

Two months later and see saw Will fleetingly during staff meetings, peered through his office window once in a while to see the back of his head nodding along to the tune of his Ipod. She knew that seeing him might all be too much and he must have too because he spent his lunch hour in the gym or the choir room and parked his clunker at the other end of the lot.

But Today Will was having an end of semester party at his place. Nothing serious, just the Glee kids and some bags of chips and Emma. He'd left a casual invitation under the paperweight on her desk.

_Glee party at mine Saturday about 7. Can't wait to see you._

He left her notes like that a lot. Simple, unromantic yet hopeful thoughts.

_Saw that deer get rescued on WOHN last night, it was epic!_

_Ready for flu shots next week?_

_Beware! Sue's running for School Board President._

And in return she rested against the head board, put her feet under the covers and dialled his number late at night.

Questions floated over the phone lines. Sweet and innocent questions and silly answers because they were getting to know each other without longing glances and nerve racked touches.

"Tell me a secret" she asked, the phone wedged between her ear and shoulder.

"Now, why would I do that?"

"Because I asked nicely"

" Ok, but if this gets out, I'll know you're the leak"

"You have my word"

He could have told her that once when he was in bed with Terri, he muttered her name instead, and quickly and he assumed successfully covered it up. Or that last year he bought her a vintage brooch for her birthday but never had the courage to give it to her.

But they had to take this slow. It was slow or not at all.

"I failed my finals in my second year of college. I couldn't tell Terri or my parents, so I pretended I was volunteering at a adult education centre over summer to get experience, but I was actually in summer school to make up my grades."

"Oh Will…"

"It's pathetic"

"But you graduated, that's what matters" then she changed the subject because she felt too much like a guidance councillor.

She liked the phone calls, without them she had to admit she would have been miserable. Divorce was hard, therapy was hard, but for the first time, friendship with Will was easy.

And yet she couldn't wait for tonight, when she knew she'd stay after the kids left and they'd stand side by side in the kitchen washing the dishes and giggling at each other's company. She would kiss him, he would be surprised she was making the first move but they both knew the night would end like this.

When the afternoon arrived she put on her favourite blue sun dress, curled her hair and hummed along to a love song on the radio.

She was contemplating if heels were appropriate when the doorbell rang.

She almost gasped, she hadn't seen him in so long. He smiled that smile and all the moments came back. He looked older, but it suited him and quickly she remembered how much expectation she had put on him and how much she had loved him.

"Andy! What are you…. Why are you here?"

He was casual and charming still with those eyes that perplexed her as a teenager. He blushed and it was flattering to his features, then asked to come in.

"Gosh Emma, you look amazing. Ohio really suits you"

She looked down and smirked and then remembered it had been fifteen years since she'd held his hand, sitting on the bleachers despite the germs, and two years since he broke her heart via email.

"How do you know where I live?"

"Oh that?" God, he was still so adorable with those dimples. "I'm a cop now" she said beaming with pride, grinning even bigger than before. "I've got some connections with the Sheriff's office here. I hope you don't mind, Em, I didn't mean to freak you out".

He was looking at her with his head turned to the side, waiting patiently for an answer, because he cared. Still. So she sat down on the sofa and invited him to do the same. And just like in Virginia, she waited for him to tell her everything on his mind.

"I got dumped last month. By Michelle Warner…" he shook his head self deprecatory.

"Michelle Warner? Wasn't she… a bit… well… out of your league?"

"Apparently so…"

Silence, breathing and smiles.

"What brings you to Lima?" she asked cheerfully trying to steer the conversation

"You, actually"

"Me?"

"I miss you. I miss talking to you. I know I was a jerk before, but Em, we were so young and I just can't help thinking-"

"Andy, we've been over this"

"You're my best friend. You have been ever you shared your sandwich with me in fifth grade"

"You live in Virginia-"

"I'm sick Emma. I didn't want to tell you but… it's leukaemia. I start treatment next week and it's just made me realise what's important"

He was crying and it made his eyes look greener and she couldn't help but reach over and rub circles on his shoulder.

"Please just let me stay with you tonight" she sobbed into her shoulder, making the strap of her dress damp.

She felt hot now with anxiety. She couldn't leave an old friend alone, a sick old friend, a sick old friend who'd tracked her from states away.

Her fingers were shaking as she picked up the phone.

"Em." God his voice was perfect in her ear.

"Will. Listen, I can't make it tonight… something's come up"

"Are you alright" he sounded deflated. She could picture his glance shifting downwards in defeat.

"No, yeah… I mean ofcourse I am" she looked over at Andy who was unloading a clean shirt from his backpack. "My… mom is having some health problems. Skype. We're going to skype each other and talk about…" she almost gagged she was such a terrible lair. And a horrible person. She should have told him the truth but there was no going back and already she could feel his concern on the other end of the line. How did the day turn out like this?

"Oh, Emma, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over later?"

"No! No, Will go have fun with the kids"

"Ok. Let me know if you need anything"

"Thanks Will"

She hung up and breathed the severity of the mess she made, too scared to open her eyes.

"Just breathe Em, it's okay. You wanna talk about it?" His tears were gone and he was standing in front of her and he was handsome and she was so confused.

"Is it a boyfriend? Are you seeing someone?" he asked in his unique, inquisitive and endearing way.

"Just a friend" she gulped. It was the truth afterall.

"God, I forgotten how beautiful you are" he was kissing her hair "I never stopped loving you".

She could do nothing but nod as he put his arms around her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for everyone who read this (both times) and encouraged it's continuance. I've changed the rating because this next chapter turned into something quite different. Thanks for always reading and reviewing. X_

Andy was a child in her memory. She always imagined a shy teenage boy with long skinny limbs he couldn't control that sat with her in gym class and dreamed about being a football star, or at least dating a cheerleader. He'd handed her a card on her sixteenth birthday and then kissed her with tongue on the way home from school. Fear choked Emma's stomach but she told herself it was love. It had to be, Andy was the only person kind enough to befriend her, even though the whole school knew she was crazy.

When they became grown ups, he emailed her, but she still heard an adolescent voice describing the pain of being dumped by yet another woman.

He wrote her sweet love letters over the computer the year she turned twenty-nine, feeling old and regretful. He described the things he wanted to do to her body in detail, told her she'd like it, and because he was still Andy, her dorky high school sweetheart with pimples on his cheeks, she wrote back, said that she loved him too, that she wanted him, and did her best to use racy words. She was getting good at it too, until one morning she logged on to read his latest story. Jessica was her name and she thought he was the perfect boyfriend.

'I still love you Emma, but you need to grow up. Maybe I can help you be sexier? You can write to me, tell what turns you on. It'll be like coaching'.

She loved Andy but she loved herself more, so she forbid herself from replying carried on with life and fell in love for real a year later.

"You can sleep in here," she said feeling sick with guilt. "I know it's just a sofa but I had the air conditioner put in just last week so it will be cool". The conversation hadn't flowed like she assumed it would. They made small talk about home and all she'd left behind and everything he'd clung to.

Andy touched her cheek, ignoring her offer and Emma felt a flush of frustration despite herself. Didn't he know what she had just done for him? Lied to Will? Cancelled the most promising night of her life all because he turned up unannounced.

Of course he didn't know and she wouldn't tell him, he was her oldest friend.

"Will you stay with me?" he asked with a smile, the tear stains almost invisible on his face now.

"No Andy"

"Em, it's just me. Relax, it'll be a lot of fun"

"Is that the reason you're here?"

"I told you before, I miss you."

"No Andy, I think you miss having someone swooning over you and I think you want to sleep with me. If you missed me you would have called or written. I've been living here for three years now" she wanted to sound angrier but her voice softened when she looked into his eyes.

"Oh God, Emma, I'm sorry, I'm being a jerk. You're right. I'm freaking out about this cancer thing. I'll stay on the sofa tonight but I really do love you Em. So much and I know how you are, you don't like surprises and I just rushed in here and dropped a bomb on you".

"It's okay" she found herself saying, even though it wasn't, "we'll talk about it more in the morning".

The sound of the searing fry pan woke her the next morning, by the time the smell of bacon drifted through the apartment reminding her of home in Virginia and past mistakes, she had snuck out the door in yesterday's blouse and a shirt that didn't match.

She realised when she got to Will's door but there was no going back. She'd lay awake all night resisting the urge to call him up and take back the lies until everything had become clogged and dizzy in her head. She had to explain.

"Hi" she whispered smiling at the clumsy way he draped against the doorframe with a curious five o'clock shadow. "Did you have a big night?"

He was bashful and she fell in love with him again. He held her hand and let her inside. "It was, yeah. I partied on my own once the kids left. I wish you could have been here".

She noticed the wrinkles under his eyes were deeper than before and suddenly it all became too hard to resist. She wanted to know every line of his face and calm every nervous fidget.

She kissed him, even though she had come to confess and even though she was terrified he might not forgive. When she kissed him everything else melted, she melted into his chest, running her hands longingly over his shirt. Their last kiss had been public and angry and shy all at the same time. But now she knew him.

She started to pulled back but his hands were resting on her back so she kept her chest pressed against him. She couldn't tell if it was her heart or his but the speed of the beat was exhilarating and comfortable all at the same time.

"I know about last night" he spoke into her neck, his lips were hot.

"Will…." There was so much she wanted to tell him. That Andy was just a friend. That she couldn't bring herself to hate him, that she hated herself for constantly letting him in. But it was Will's hands on her back, holding her, moving lower. Emma was paralysed with yearning.

"Don't say anything please. He answered your cell while you were in the shower" his voice grew husky and his hands were firmer than she remembered and even as they began to caress her flesh, she never felt threatened.

"You called?" She opened her mouth wider for air. Those lips on her neck were greedy and she'd do anything to satisfy them.

"If you talk I'm going to lose my nerve. I was stupid to think wait and let Carl get you the first time and I'm not going to let it happen again. I'll be the other guy, I'll be whatever you want, but I need you, I love you. And I don't care if this guy is your boyfriend". He spoke in sighs and moved his attention to her face, her chin, and her chest. His hands grazed her breasts, the movements were painfully slow. She couldn't help but arch into them.

"Wait".

"Don't. I don't want to know… I don't care". He was good at this. His palms pressured her chest. Touching her seemed to make him stronger because all of sudden he could walk and lead her to the dining table where she perched herself slowly so that he never stopped tracing and squeezing.

"You're incredible, I hope he knows that". His forehead fell to hers. His hands, they could undo her. They cleverly found the hem of her blouse and she was surprised how easy it was to bare herself to him. It took seconds for his hands to snake around and unhook her bra.

He hands stopped. Fell to his sides. It was inevitable that his conscience would take hold. He froze. They both did.

And suddenly it wasn't Andy that she needed to explain, it was herself_. _

"Sorry" he said but his eyes were rolling all over her. She grabbed his hand, and brought it back to her skin. It was all permission he needed.

He latched on to her nipple, licking, and taking as much of her as he could, Emma had never felt so powerful. He groaned. She made him groan, without even meaning too.

Her legs inched wider the moment his hand touched her knee, it wasn't an invitation as much a necessity.

"May I?" he breathed and then he was rubbing circles through her panties, she pulled him closer.

"Does he even know how to touch you?" his voice was in her ear, his hand was holding her knee steady and his fingers….. his fingers were inside her. Just one and then another and his other hand was moving up, groping her. He wasn't treating her like porcelain anymore. They were lovers, Emma was Will's lover. The roaming hand found her hair, grabbed it and made her open up to him more.

"I've got you Em" he continued to lead the dance. His lips hit her neck once last time and she quivered and strained. He stopped kissing and watched.

Sweat was everywhere. Will was everywhere and as she caught her breath she wanted more still. She needed him on top of her, she wanted to make him shake and beg. She wanted to do it everyday. She wanted him inside her until her stomach swelled with his baby and then she would want him over and over. The feelings were terrifying.

"It's okay. I'm here…"

The feelings faded, Will's hands with those magic fingers pulled back. Her candour was gone and she just Emma, shy and half naked in Will's apartment.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked and Emma didn't even know where to begin.


End file.
